Three Sides, One Coin
by Ratchet's Apprentice 88
Summary: Gaius takes in a new apprentice and she and Merlin take a liking to one another. It's a good thing too, since her destiny is intertwined with his and Arthur's. Problem number one, neither of them will admit it to themselves much less each other. Problem number two, it seems as though every other man in Camelot and beyond wants her too. This is sure to be one crazy ride.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fellow fanfiction readers and writers! This is a little plot bunny that's been stuck in my head for almost two weeks now so I decided to write it. This is my very first Merlin fic so you all have gots to tell me what you think. I might continue this story, or I might not. It all depends on what you lot think. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. I wish I did, but unfortunately, I do not.**

* * *

It was a beautiful morning. There was fresh dew on the grass and the birds had begun their songs. Through a field, lavender flowers brushed at the ankles of a lone traveler and gently scenting the bottom tail of their blue cloak. The traveler had nothing but the clothes on their back and a wheeled trunk that they pulled behind them. They gazed beyond the end of the field and over the top of a pine forest at the glistening jewel that was Camelot. The sun was rising just behind it and seemed to shimmer off the peaks of the watch towers, almost as a beacon for all to come.

"Perfect" the traveler thought, "only about a mile away. I can be there by mid day."

Trunk in hand and goal in mind, they went on with their journey to the heart of the kingdom.

* * *

"Merlin! Time to get up! Arthur may have given you the day off but I still need your help!"

The young airlock groaned into his pillow. One day. Maybe one day he could get some proper rest. Perhaps he would even sleep in, but for now, he had chores. Merlin reluctantly pulled his tired body out of bed and attempted to make his way to the cupboard that held his clothes. He was trying to work out a crick in his neck when trip over one of the many things strewn across the floor of his room.

"Wonderful way to start the day, huh Merlin?" he asked himself in his head.

As he tried to get up off the floor, a sharp pain pierced through his left ankle and he promptly fell back down to the ground.

"Merlin?" Gaius called through the door. "Merlin are you alright? Have you hurt yourself again?"

The servant only groaned in frustration into the floor.

Merlin sat on the bed in the front workshop and winced as Gaius wrapped a bandage tightly around his swollen ankle.

"It's not too bad a sprain, you should be fine by tomorrow evening the latest, but you must keep off of it. If you absolutely must, you can use the crutches in the corner to get around but I'd much prefer it if you'd just sit down and keep you ankle elevated. I'll send a messenger to tell Arthur that you will not be at work today or tomorrow."

The young man sighed, knowing how much work he would have piled up when he returned to work. Merlin sighed and allowed Gaius finished with the bandaging.

Merlin had spent most of the morning reading his book of spells in the chair by the unlit fireplace with his leg propped up another chair and a pillow. Before Gaius had left for the lower town to tend to the baker's sick son, he insisted that Merlin stay off his ankle. Merlin hadn't felt like arguing with the physician so he did as he was told.

Around noon time, Merlin had his nose buried deep in his spell book. He was in the middle of learning a spell that would make a swarm of butterflies appear out of thin air when he heard the familiar sound of the old wooden door opening.

"Hello Gaius," he began, but did not finish. Standing in the doorway was a perplexed looking young woman. A rather pretty young woman if he may add. She was around his height with a petite build. Her straight dark brown hair was partially tied back by two small braids on either side of her head that went from the front to be tied together in the back. There was enough of her hair left loose that Merlin could tell it fell to a length somewhere between her shoulder blades, and the thin braids kept it out of her face so that you could see her fair skin and delicate features. In his opinion, her beauty rivaled that of the Lady Morgana herself. She looked as though she could be a princess, but her pale pink and white peasant dress told Merlin otherwise. He took in every detail. Even the way the end of her blue cloak piled on the floor as she stood still and how she held her brown leather trunk on its wheels by its handle. He noticed everything.

Finally, he spoke. "You're not Gaius."

"Neither are you" she replied, equally confused.

It was then that the real Gaius arrived. He was not confused like Merlin and the girl were, but more shocked than anything.

"Katelyn, I wasn't expecting you until Friday." Gaius said in a tone that was almost disbelieving.

"Today is Friday" she replied.

"Oh" the physician said quietly, realizing that the dates had gotten away from him. "Merlin, this is girl I told you about a few weeks ago. The one who has become my second ward."

"Second ward? Gaius, you never told me anything about this." the young man exclaimed.

"Yes I did, and you would have remembered it had you been listening and paying attention." Replied Gaius.

Now that he thought about it, he did remember Gaius mentioning something a few weeks prior.

_"Merlin, I need to tell you something before I forget." Said Gaius. _

_"Hmm?" Merlin responded. _

_The pair was eating dinner at the time, Merlin too busy thinking about the work he had to get done that night for Arthur to focus on what Gaius was saying. He only caught bits and pieces of it. Something about a girl, a ward, an apprentice and two weeks. _

_"I just wanted to inform you beforehand. She the same age as you as well. I think you too will get along quite nicely." Gaius finished. _

_"Mhhm" Merlin replied, still not truly connected with the world around him. _

"It's good to see you two have met." Said Gaius.

"Actually, we haven't gotten the chance yet." The girl replied.

Gaius was picking up several bottles from the potion shelf and putting them in his bag. "Well I must run back to the lower town, Mrs. Margret, the blacksmith's wife has fallen ill as well. I shouldn't be more than an hour. I'll let you two get acquainted."

And as quickly as he arrived, he was gone again, leaving the two teenagers to introduce themselves.

"Alright then," she began, "I guess I'll go first. My name is Katelyn, but please, call me Kate. And you are?"

"Merlin"

"Well Merlin, it's very nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine." Merlin said, subconsciously rubbing his neck again, attempting to work out the crick. This did not go unnoticed by Katelyn.

"Merlin? Is your neck bothering you?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, a bit. It's nothing though, just a crick is all." He answered.

"Would you like me to help you?" She asked "I was educated in a special form of healing for the neck and back so I should be able to fix you right up."

"That's alright, thank you though, but it's nothing, really." Merlin said stretching his neck out, deciding that he could take care of it himself. Any hopes of that had been shattered by one wrong move that sent a jolt of pain through his neck. "On second thought, could you?" He asked a slight wince still present on his face.

Katelyn smiled. "Of course"

She walked around to the back of his chair and from behind, placed her hands on the right side of his neck and left side of his head. Slowly, she began rolling his neck around to loosen the muscles and asked where he felt the most strain.

"Right there" he told her, referring to a spot on the lower left part on the back of his neck. Katelyn placed two delicate fingers on it and could already feel how tense it was.

"Alright" she said. "You're going to hear a something of a cracking sound. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe and I promise it doesn't hurt. Are you ready?"

He nodded the best he could to tell her that he was indeed ready, he hoped.

"Alright then, I'm going to countdown from three."

_"Three"_

Now Merlin was having second thoughts about having a stranger mess with his neck.

_"Two"_

What if something went wrong?

_"One"_

"Wait!" Merlin shouted, but it was too late.

_Crack!_

With one swift move, it was done.

Merlin just sat there with his eyes wide and mouth agape. At first, he didn't dare move his neck, but once he got over the initial shock and began cautiously moving it around, he found that the crick was completely gone as well as any other pain he was feeling in his neck.

Katelyn was completely unphased by the loud noise and had started gently massaging the area to relax the muscles as well as look for anymore trouble spots. Thankfully, she didn't find any in his neck but lower down proved to be another issue.

"My God Merlin!" She exclaimed, "Your shoulders! They're riddled with knots! Would you like me to do those as well? Don't worry there won't be any cracking here."

Merlin hesitated, "Only if you don't mind, honestly, I don't want to bother you."

"Nonsense, it's no bother at all." She told him as he she began the massage. Only two minutes in, Merlin was practically melting under her gentle, trained hands and would occasionally groan in relief. She knew exactly where to put pressure and just how much to use. It felt so amazing, it almost magical. No one had ever done anything like that for him before. There was the one time when he had just started working for Arthur. Gaius had attempted to help him, but he was a bit rough and it didn't feel nearly as good as Katelyn's.

An hour past much faster than either of them had anticipated and Gaius walked in right as Merlin was in the middle of a rather loud moan of relief. So it wasn't much of a surprise when the physician simply stood in the doorway, staring at the pair in disbelief. The pair themselves stared right back at him, as though they were children caught doing something wrong.

It was Merlin who decided to break the extremely awkward silence. "Uh,…hello, Gaius. You must be wondering what exactly is going on. Well, I can explain. There was a crick you see. I had a crick in my neck, and Katelyn here, was just…helping me."

"Oh,…alright" said Gaius, not completely believing it, but granted, he did just walk in on his ward, who was like a son to him, groaning while being….rubbed…by his other ward, who he hoped, in time, would become like a daughter to him. "Just don't rush into anything."

"Gaius!" the shouted in unison.

"We have no intentions to fornicate with each other, Gaius! We've only just met! It was merely a kind gesture, he was in pain so I helped him. What kind of people do you think we are?!" Katelyn exclaimed.

Gaius smiled at his ward's embarrassment. "I didn't expect you two to do anything of the sort. I was simply referring to perhaps a romantic relationship. 'Love at first sight' and such."

"Gaius, it was just a kind gesture, I can assure you."

Hours were spent talking and getting to know each other until the sky turned dark. Katelyn's father, Bartholomew, had been a very wealthy merchant in one of the outlying towns and left her and her mother a fortune when he had died soon after his daughter's birth. Her mother, Victoria, was kind but extremely paranoid about her daughter's safety. Going as far as having her trained in several fields of weaponry including the sword, mace, daggers, and bow and arrow. She was very close with one of the estate's servants, Thompson, who she considered a surrogate father, and his son, Gavin. She would often go hunting with the two and enjoyed the sport. Her mother made plans for her to be sent to live with her old, close friend in Camelot, Gaius, when she turned sixteen to become his apprentice.

She told them that once a month, a servant would be sent to Camelot with money for her to be used on things she needed, which ended up being more than Gaius and Merlin brought home in a month. Despite Gaius's arguments, she insisted on putting all of the money with Gaius's and Merlin's to be used by all of them so that they could live better.

Once it was time to retire to bed, Gaius shared a bit of news he had forgotten to before.

"I'll have to get another bed tomorrow, but Katelyn, you will be staying in Merlin's room."

The girl shook her head. "Gaius, I can't take Merlin's room. I'll just make up a bed in the corner."

"No no, I think you misunderstand. Merlin will still be in the room, you two will be sharing it. I know it's a bit strange, but I'm afraid we don't have much space around here."

"Oh, no, it's perfect. I just wanted to make sure to I wasn't displacing anyone. I don't want to intrude. Thank you for letting me stay here." Said Katelyn.

Gaius hugged her. "Don't even think of it. It has been so long since I've seen you. You were only a few months old I believe. Look how you've grown. You definitely got you looks from your mother."

"Thank you Gaius, I just hope I can make her proud."

Merlin hobbled around on the crutches that Gaius had given him and led Katelyn to their now shared room.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess." Merlin apologized on their way in.

"It's fine, I was never one for tidiness either. It's never as cozy." Katelyn said.

"Well, you can take the bed." Merlin told her.

"Absolutely not. It's your bed, I couldn't." She replied

Merlin sighed. "We have to figure this out somehow."

And that's how Gaius woke up the next morning, shaking his head when he found both of his wards tangled in their blankets, sleeping on the floor on opposite sides of the empty bed.

* * *

**What did you think? I hope you all enjoyed it. As I said before, this is my first Merlin fic so I gots to know. How'd I do? All feedback is more than welcome and all reviews are magical! See you all next update but for now, this is RA88, signing off with a smile. :-)**


	2. The Third Side

**Hello peoples. Now I know it's been a while since I last updated this story, but I really wanted this chapter to be perfect. This chapter has a lot going on and I hope you guys have as good a time reading it as I did writing it. Enjoy! :-)**

* * *

"Merlin! It's time to wake up!"

Katelyn was jolted awake, not used to Merlin's usual wakeup call. She shot up into a sitting position on the floor and looked over the empty bed at her roommate to see him sitting up as well, lazily stretching with half closed eyes that widened when they saw her, but he quickly remembered the events of two days prior. Still not used to having a roommate, he had forgotten she was there and was quite startled when he woke up the day before as well. Gaius had tried to get a second bed the day before, but the carpenter was delayed by an unannounced family visit and wouldn't be done until later that day, so they continued sleeping on the floor.

"Morning" Merlin greeted.

"Morning" Katelyn returned. "So, what have you got planed for the day?"

"Same as every day," Merlin said, smoothing out his disheveled hair. "Serving the royal prat, Prince Arthur"

Katelyn laughed. "Come on, he can't be that bad."

"Oh, you don't believe me?" Merlin challenged. "Well lucky for you, Gaius asked me to take you around with me today, so you'll get the chance to meet him for yourself. But we'll need to get dressed first."

Katelyn nodded, "You go first, I'll go comb my hair outside." She ran her fingers through her messy hair, wincing while she pulled them through the many knots. She stepped out of the room for a moment and when Merlin opened the door again, her hair was again smooth and tied back in the usual two thin braids. She walked passed him, into their shared room, and reemerged a few moments later in a white and dark blue long sleeved dress.

Merlin smiled shyly and didn't refrain from telling her how lovely she looked. "Ready?" he asked?

She grinned in return and nodded.

* * *

It wasn't long before the two were standing outside the large wooden door of the prince's chambers. They had stopped at the kitchens to fetch Arthur's breakfast and the cook, Mary, had taken a liking to the sweet girl that accompanied the king's manservant that day. They had been side tracked in the kitchen, but they still managed to make it to the king's chambers on time. Merlin went to open the door but hesitated before turning to Katelyn.

"It might be best for you to stay out here, just for a few minutes."

Trusting Merlin, she waited patiently by the door as he entered his master's chambers. Not two minutes later, she heard yelling and the sound to things crashing to the floor. Soon after, Merlin reappeared in the doorway. He laughed at her terribly confused expression and gestured for her to follow him into the room. Once inside, she was immediately caught view of the prince of Camelot. Most women thought that he was the most attractive man alive, but for some reason, the blonde hair, blue eyed look didn't quite do it for Katelyn. But hey, to each his own.

Arthur, however, was instantly taken by the beauty of the woman standing next to his manservant and flashed her his award winning smile.

"My lady" he greeted before taking her hand and kissing it.

Katelyn's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "My lord, I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I'm no lady."

"Call me Arthur, and if it's not "My lady", I must ask, what is your name?" Arthur asked her.

"My apologies, my name is Katelyn." She replied.

"Katelyn…" he repeated. " A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

Merlin noticed the slightly flirtatious smirk that Arthur had on his face and felt something in his chest tighten. Was he jealous? No, what did he have to be jealous about? Still, something just didn't quite sit right.

"So," Arthur began, "Merlin tells me you're new to Camelot?"

"I am" She said with a friendly grin which she hoped came across as _"Only friends. Only friends. I want nothing more. Just friends."_

"I don't suppose this idiot has already given you a tour?"

Katelyn laughed slightly. Merlin had told her all about his relationship with his master and everything that it entailed.

"No, he hasn't. Not yet anyway." She said.

"Well then," Arthur extended his hand to her, "it would be my honor to do just that. Care to join me on a tour of the city?"

"I would love to. Thank you, my lord." She replied, accepting the prince's hand.

* * *

Katelyn and Arthur walked next to each other, leisurely strolling through the streets with Merlin following close behind. The tour had taken the better part of the morning before Arthur was called off to deal with a diplomatic matter with his father. He left Katelyn in the care of Merlin, promising to finish their walk another day. If Merlin was honest with himself, he would have admitted to the wave of slight relief that washed over him once Arthur was out of sight and it was just the two of them. But this was Merlin. Of course he wasn't going to be honest with himself.

They spent about another hour walking around the marketplace, looking at all of the different stalls and carts and admiring all of the different goods being sold, before heading back to Gaius's chambers.

When they had gotten back, the physician was on the second floor, if you could call it that. He had been doing a bit of cleaning, going through some old books and relics. One relic in particular, a decretive ornate dagger, was precariously close to the edge. It was just chance that the old man had accidently kicked it off the ledge as he was walking past, just like it was chance that Merlin was directly under its path.

"Merlin!" Katelyn shouted, extending her arm towards the falling weapon.

Gaius and Merlin stared at her in shock and she stared back in horror. The dagger was frozen in mid air. She threw it to the side and let it fall to the ground below.

"You have magic." Gaius said, still processing the situation, he felt a sense of déjà vu. The girl hadn't uttered a word let alone a spell, instantly reminding him of his first encounter with Merlin.

'No, no, I-I I'm sorry." She stuttered before fleeing out the door.

She pushed pass people in the crowded streets and before long, she was at the edge of the city. She had nowhere to go, so she just ran. She ran and ran until she couldn't run any further. The sun was setting and night was approaching. She had made it deep into the woods so she decided gather some fire wood and stop for the night.

She waved her hand over the pile of sticks and instantaneously, it set ablaze. She sat at the base a tree and pulled her knees to her chest. What had she done? Where would she go?

_"__Anywhere" _she thought to herself. She could go anywhere she wanted. When her mother told her she was going to Camelot, she overjoyed. Not because she didn't like her home, no, she loved her home and everyone in it, but Camelot was somewhere different. It was an adventure. She couldn't go back to Camelot, but that didn't mean her adventure had to end. She could go anywhere. She was free, just like she had always wanted, but now, that was the problem. Even after just three days, she realized that she didn't necessarily want to be free. She wanted to be in Camelot.

* * *

Hours had passed. What had once been the sunset was replaced by darkness, save for the stars, the moon, and her fire. She was alone, or so she had thought. In the distance, she could see the feint orange glow fire and it was coming towards her. Believing it to be a bandit, she readied herself for a fight. Then a familiar voice called out her name. Merlin. He must have spotted her fire, as his light began getting closer and closer. She knew she should have started running again, but for some reason, her feet remained planted. Merlin eventually reached her and extinguished his torch, instead relying on her fire for light.

"What are you doing here?" she asked evenly.

"Well hello to you too." He greeted sarcastically, walking over to her.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated, backing up slightly as he advanced towards her.

"Looking for you." He replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Her brow furrowed in confusion, but she remained defensive incase it was a trap. "Why were you looking for me? You aren't afraid of me. You aren't angry?"

He opened his mouth as though to respond, but closed it again soon after, deciding to say something else. "Instead of answering, why don't I show you something?"

He took her hand and led her to the base of the tree where they both sat down.

"Forbærne blóstm" Merlin whispered. A bit of the fire separated from the rest and floated in the air, eventually taking the shape of a rose.

Katelyn watched the whole thing in awe. "You have magic too. And Gaius knows?" She said, barely above a whisper herself.

The young warlock smiled and nodded in return. "Now I have to ask you something. Where did you learn magic?"

She shook her head. "I never really learned. My mother says I was born with it. What about you?"

Merlin look amazed. She was born with it too. She was just like him. "I was born with it as well. I only started learning when I got to Camelot."

She nodded slowly. Like him, she was still processing that there was someone just like her.

"Now," Merlin said, relighting his torch, "let's go home."

* * *

When they got back to Gaius's chambers, they found that not only had the physician stayed up and waited for them to return before retiring to bed, but that the second bed had already been put together. The carpenter having come by and done so while they were out. Without any more to do, they all went to bed and hoped there would be no more drama for the rest of the night. Then again, when did that ever happen?

"_Katelyn"_

Katelyn heard her name being called in the middle of the night. She didn't take it to seriously, thinking it was Merlin.

"What Merlin?" she asked tiredly. When she got no response, she went back to sleep, only to be woken once again.

"_Katelyn!"_

This time it was louder. Annoyed at being woken in the middle of the night, she took her pillow and threw it across the room where it collided with the back of Merlin's head. The young man jerked awake and fell off the bed.

"What was that for?!" he cried softly as not to wake Gaius.

"Quit calling my name!" she cried back.

"What are you talking about? I'm not- " he stopped in the middle as realization struck him. This could only mean one thing. "Come with me."

"What? Merlin are you insane?" she argued.

"Just trust me." He insisted and she hesitantly agreed.

The two snuck out of Gaius' chambers, through the streets of the citadel, and into some strange underground passageway under the castle. By this time, the voice was louder and was calling for her more frequently. Soon, they arrived at a doorway of sorts carved into the rock. Merlin motioned for her to go in and she obliged. It's safe to say that she was more than just a little shocked to find and giant dragon being held prisoner in the cave.

"Hello young witch," the dragon greeted, "I see you too are so very small for such a great destiny."

"Who are you?" Katelyn asked him.

"My name is Kilgharrah." He replied.

"Alright Kilgharrah, what do you mean great destiny?" she asked, standing tall and unafraid.

"To aid Arthur, the Once and Future King who will unite the land of Albion."

"I don't understand."

"It is simple you witch. You and the young warlock, Merlin. Your destinies are intertwined with the Prince's. You are all three sides of the same coin."

"That makes no sense." Katelyn said. "Coins only have two sides."

"This is where you are wrong," Kilgharrah began. An image of a coin made of lights appeared out of thin air. "How many sides do you see?"

"Two" she replied, still not seeing where this was going.

The dragon nodded. "Two obvious sides, yes, but what about the side between the two? The rim around?"

Katelyn stared at the image, thinking about what Kilgharrah had just said. Before she could say anything, he spoke again.

"You are this third side, young witch. You are what holds the two sides together and together, you, the warlock, and the prince will unite this great land. Without you, there is and will never be and Albion."

It took a moment, but eventually, Katelyn found her tongue. "Thank you Kilgharrah. I will not let you, Arthur, Merlin, or Albion down."

She turned and began walking away, stopping to look at Merlin before they both left the cave. She had wanted and adventure, and she sure found one.

This was it. Camelot, Arthur, Merlin, destiny, Albion. She was the third side of their coin.

* * *

**Okay, like I said, a lot happened! Jealousy, magic reveal, destiny, oh my! (Sorry, couldn't ressist!) Just wanted to let you guys know that from this point on, the story is going to follow through the episodes of the show, but with a few twists and tweaks of course. :-)This was a really fun chapter to write and I hope you all enjoyed it. Until next time, this is RA88, signing off with a smile. :-)**


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